WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has teased on social media that some “massive” news is soon to be released by his management company, sparking rumors that a title unification bout with Anthony Joshua is just around the corner.
Fury made his proclamation while speaking to fans on Instagram Live on Saturday, promising that there will be news, potentially related to his next fight, released very shortly.
This has fueled speculation that there had been a breakthrough in discussions between representatives of Fury and Anthony Joshua, and comes after reports that figures within Saudi Arabia had made a bid to host what would be the most high profile heavyweight title fight in a generation.
“We’ve got some massive news coming soon. Some massive, massive news,” Fury said.
“I was just on the phone to the old MTK [his management company] and we’ve got some massive news coming for you all very, very soon, so keep an eye out for it all.“
? Tyson Fury teases “massive news coming soon” after a phone call from MTK this morning…[?️ @Tyson_Fury] pic.twitter.com/AS1TVIx8bp
Fury had been expected to face Deontay Wilder in a trilogy bout this summer before the on-going coronavirus health crisis forced all parties to pull back.
Wilder, who lost their second fight via seventh-round corner stoppage in February, had taken up his contractual option of arranging a third fight with Fury. However, there has been no indication about when boxing events may be considered safe to proceed.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, however, has said that there have been no discussions regarding arranging a fight between his fighter and Tyson Fury as of yet.
Top Rank’s Bob Arum, who promotes Fury in the United States, has hit out at sports entities attempting to stage events in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – and recently referred to UFC chief Dana White as a “cowboy” for pushing ahead with Saturday night’s controversial card in Jacksonville, Florida.
Joshua has already signed a contract to fight Kubrat Pulev in a mandatory title defence, though this was also cancelled due to the pandemic. For Fury-Joshua to be fast-tracked, both Pulev and Wilder would have to agree to offers to step aside from their forthcoming fights.
It remains to be seen if this is manageable, especially at a time when the sporting landscape remains so unclear, but it appears that there is at least one very rich consortium in Saudi Arabia who might be willing to try.
